William Heise Movies

Experimental film made to test the original cylinder format of the Kinetoscope and believed to be the first film shot in the United States. It shows...

A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the second motion...

Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around. Notable for being the first film in which a scene is being acted out.

A short film depicting the execution of Mary, Queen of the Scots. Mary is brought to the execution block and made to kneel down with her neck over...

The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United...

William K.L. Dickson plays the violin while two men dance. This is the oldest surviving sound film where sound is recorded on the phonograph.

In a long, diaphanous skirt, held out by her hands with arms extended, Broadway dancer Annabelle Moore performs. Her dance emphasizes the movement of...

They get ready to kiss, begin to kiss, and kiss in a way that brings down the house every time.

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest...

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

“Interior of Barber Shop. Man comes in, takes off his coat; sits down, smokes; is handed a paper by attendant, who points out a joke; both...

William K.L. Dickson brings his hat from his one hand to the other and moves his head slightly, as a small nod toward the audience. This was the...

"A glove contest between trained cats. A very comical and amusing subject, and is sure to create a great laugh." (by Edison Films)

Annie Oakley was probably the most famous marksman/woman in the world when this short clip was produced in Edison's Black Maria studio in West...

William K.L. Dickson and William Heise shake hands in this early experimental film.

"Firemen in working uniform, rubber coats, helmets, and boots. Thrilling rescue from burning building. Smoke effects are fine." - from the Edison...

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

The pursuit of Hop Lee by an irate policeman.

Luis Martinetti, a contortionist suspended from acrobatic flying rings, contorts himself for about thirty seconds. This is one of the first films...

Eugen Sandow, who claims to be the strongest man in the world, appears in the Edison Company's film studio.